


A Forbidden Family

by ThatStupidDeer



Category: The Tunnels Series - Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams
Genre: F/M, Gen, bc Elliott isn't born yet lmao, first few chapters will focus pretty much only on Eddie and Molly, from before Elliott was born to the time she leaves for the Deeps, this is going to cover a lot of time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22428805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatStupidDeer/pseuds/ThatStupidDeer
Summary: Eddie and Molly knew from the start that this was something they had to keep secret. But when a child comes into the mix, the secret they have kept so close to their chests begins to fall apart.-----A collection of stories about Eddie and Molly's relationship, and how Elliott's birth changed everything for them.
Relationships: Eddie Green/Molly, Elliott & Eddie Green, Elliott & Molly
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the beginning, Molly had been alright with waking up to an empty bed. But as time passed, she began to feel lonely without Eddie next to her.

Their routine has been the same for months; he comes to her when everyone else is sleeping, and they spend the night together before falling asleep in each other’s arms. But every morning, she wakes to find the space in the bed beside her empty and almost cold. She never sees him leave, never feels the bed shift as he gets up, nor does she hear his footsteps as he slips from her room. He is little more than a ghost, drifting to and from her bedroom when he can. 

For a while, she felt slighted by his absence in the morning. She thought he was only interested in sleeping with her, and then taking off once he was done and she was asleep. Eventually she asked him about it one night after he had asked her if she was alright. She hadn’t been very kind to him when he came to see her that night, and he knew something was wrong.

“Why don’t you stay the night with me?” she had asked him, her voice taking a whiny edge that she hated to hear. “Am I just something fun for you? To work off frustration with?”

He had stared at her in silence, and she had been sure he would just leave and never come back. But instead, he drew her close and kissed her. “No. You’re not just that, Molly. You are much more than that… I wish I could stay, but you know as well as I do that it would be a death sentence for us both if anyone found us. I’m risking a lot just to come and see you.”

“You say that, but you don’t act like it. You leave the moment I’m asleep… if you didn’t, there would be some sign of you when I wake up, but it’s always like you were never there,” Molly said, her voice rising with frustration. She shoved him away, not wanting his affection. It felt like he was only trying to placate her.

“It is safer that way, Molly. You know this. I told you this in the beginning that it would have to be like this,” he said. His voice was even and calm, even as he is shoved away from her. He couldn’t be angry with her, even if she was being accusatory. He understood where she was coming from.

“I know, but it doesn’t feel good to be alone. I feel like… It feels like…” She trailed off, and hid her face in her hands. She felt hands gently grasp her wrists and pull her hands away so that she could look at him.

“What can I do to make this right? I do not want you to feel like I’m just using you, because I’m not,” he said, his voice gentle. Molly looked down as she thought about how to phrase what she wanted. She was sure it was obvious, but she still needed to voice her wants.

“Can you stay with me through the night? Not every night, but at least every so often? It would help with not feeling lonely or… anything like that,” she said.

He was silent again, and when she looked into his eyes, they were far away. He was thinking about what she had said, considering it, and that alone helped her feel a little better.

“I will see what I can do. But if it looks like we are going to be found out, I will have to stop,” he said.

“I think I can live with that,” Molly said. She stood on her toes to draw him down for a kiss.

-==-

They are lying together as they so often do. Molly lies atop him, her head tucked beneath his chin, and his arms are wrapped around her, holding her close. His fingers trace lazy patterns across the skin of her shoulders and back; it’s the only thing that tells Molly that he’s still awake.

She draws back, lifting her head from his chest, and gently breaking his hold on her. His hands drift to her sides where they now rest. His eyes open, and from this distance, she can just make out the shape of his pupils, even blacker circles in the middle of the black voids that are his irises.

“I want you to stay tonight,” she says. “Please.”

“You know I can’t, Molly,” he says regretfully. “We have already talked about this many times. Staying the entire night is too risky.”

“I know, but… I miss you when you’re gone. And I hate waking up to an empty bed,” she says, lying back down. She works her hands under his back so that she can hold onto him, a silent message that she won’t be rolled off of him so easily.

“Molly…” he sighs. “I don’t want you to get hurt or worse. You know that this is dangerous enough as it is.”

“Then why keep seeing me?” Molly snaps. She pulls her hands back and sits up properly. The blankets fall away, leaving them open to the cool air of the room. She feels a shiver run down her spine, but he doesn’t even blink. 

“Because I love you, Molly,” he says. Molly swallows, emotions rising to the surface faster than she can get a handle on them.

“Do you? Because you have a funny way of showing it,” she says, her voice trembling. She tries to swallow it down, but she can already feeling tears stinging her eyes. “I don’t need you to stay every night, but it’s been so long since I’ve been able to wake up with you next to me. I miss you, and I feel so lonely when I wake up and you’re not there…”

He sits up, drawing her close as she trembles on the edge of tears. He doesn’t shush her. He doesn’t say anything, he simply wraps his arms around her. She buries her face in his neck, feeling the tears brim over and run down her cheeks, only to be caught by the skin of his shoulder.

“We have been doing this the same way for so long now,” he says, his voice soft. “I thought you had gotten used to the routine.”

“I thought so too,” Molly says, sniffling. “I’ve just been feeling more lonely lately. I miss you so much more now when you’re not here, and it always feels so terrible when you’re not there in the morning.”

“Mm…” he hums, the sound a rumble deep in his throat. “Perhaps it will pass. And I will… stay as long as I can tonight, if it will make you feel better.”

“It will.”

“Alright. Then I will stay. But you should put your nightgown on.”

Molly sighs, but relents. She shifts off of him and to the edge of the bed so that she can reach down and grab her nightgown. She pulls it over her head, wiggling on the bed to make sure she can get it down to cover her legs. She hears movement next to her, and she turns to see him reaching for his own things and putting them on so that he is slightly dressed. The moment he settles back into the bed, Molly wiggles her way into his arms. She hears him chuckle, the sound faint, and more of a rumble in his chest than anything. He reaches for the blankets and pulls them over to shield them from the cool air of the room. 

“You promise to stay?” Molly asks after a long, comfortable silence. He doesn't reply right away, so she wonders if he’s fallen asleep. She feels his arms tighten around her, and he lets out a warm breath against her neck.

“I promise. I will be here when you wake up,” he says.

Nothing in his voice makes Molly think he’s lying. She rolls over to face him, and his arms open enough to allow her to move. She settles again. “Good…” she murmurs, closing her eyes. Sleep is already edging in on the corners of her conscious, and it does take long for her to drift off into a comfortable sleep.

When she wakes the next morning, he is still there, his arms wrapped around her. When she looks up, she meets his gaze, and she has to wonder if he had slept at all. “You stayed,” she says.

“I promised you I would,” he replies. Molly buries her face in his neck, and he holds her tighter. Having him here next to her when she wakes just feels  _ right _ , like they are a normal couple, and not to people doing a dangerous dance around others who would have them killed for this. In moments like this, she can pretend the danger isn’t there. 

“I wish you could stay all the time,” she says in a whisper.

“I know. I would like to as well, but it just isn’t safe for either of us, but especially you,” he says. “If they were to catch me, I would not care, but only if it meant you would be safe.”

“Don’t say that! If something happened to you…”

“You would move on,” he says firmly. “You would still be able to live your life.” He presses a kiss to her forehead before she gets a chance to complain about his blasé attitude towards his own life. “But I have no plans to go anywhere any time soon. For the foreseeable future, you still have me.”

“I hate it when you talk about yourself like that,” Molly says, pouting at him.

“I know, but I have to be realistic. A Limiter’s life is neither easy nor often long. I know you know this too,” he says. He begins to draw away, and Molly whines at him.

“Do you have to go?” she asks, sitting up as he swings his legs over the side of the bed. He reaches for the rest of his things, dressing and straightening himself to make it look like nothing has been amiss.

“Yes. If I stay any longer it will rouse suspicion,” he says. Molly siddles up behind him and drapes herself over his shoulders. He leans his head against hers, eyes closed. “I will come back tonight if I can. You won’t be without me for too long if I can help it.”

“Okay,” she says. “Be careful, okay?”

“I always am.” He ducks out from under her and turns to face her. She kneels on the bed in front of him, looking up into his dark eyes. He leans in to press a kiss to her lips, fingers running through her white hair. “Take care, Molly. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she says as he draws away. His hand slides down along her arm and over her hand as he leaves, touching for as long as he can until they are too far from one another.

Molly watches him leave, and the moment he disappears from her room, she sighs and lies down on his side of the bed, gathering up the blankets to cover herself with them. They are still warm, still smell like him.

And here, she will remain until her sister comes to get her for the day, but she wishes she could stay here until he comes back to her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being away for a while, Eddie comes back to find things have changed, and Molly has to make a decision that will change their lives, for better or for worse.

It is rare that he is caught off guard. A Limiter’s senses are honed from a very young age to make sure that little can sneak up on them, and if something does, they can react with lightning reflexes to prevent them from being seriously harmed. And if they don’t… then it is one less weakling in the possible gene pool.

His guard is up when he enters the house, but he does not expect the threat to come from within, so when he is struck quite hard across the head with something rough and hard, he is nearly knocked off of his feet. He stumbles into the house, and the door swings shut behind him, preventing him from possibly retreating from the attack, and the house is dark, the fire having been put out in the sitting room.

When another strike comes, he manages to block it and push it away. But they keep coming, along with a furious feminine voice.

“You! Fucking! Idiot!” snarls the voice, her words punctuated with the swings of what Eddie now knows is a broom. He’s being smacked with a broom like some sort of unwanted animal that’s walked in off the streets. He supposes, in a way, it is a bit like that.

“Alice,” he growls, seizing the broom in her hands to prevent her from taking another swing at him. All the missed blows haven’t stopped her from trying; if anything, her swings have only been getting harder, and even him holding the broom isn’t stopping her. “Enough. What is going on?”

“You know exactly what’s going on!” Alice snaps as she tries to rip the broom out of his grasp. Eddie scowls, and pulls the broom from her hands with ease. Alice stands, stunned, but only for a moment. She howls like a furious hound and begins to swing her fists at him instead.

Eddie had seen that coming, and he is swift to step out of the path of her swings. Alice lunges for him next, and he uses the broom handle to keep her from getting her hands around his throat. “What is going on, Alice? Is Molly hurt?” he asks, his voice firm and even.

Alice breathes hard, nostrils flaring like an angry bull’s, but she seems to be coming back to herself. Her wild eyes aren’t so wild now, but there is still an incredible anger there. She’s furious, but Eddie doesn’t know why. Whatever has happened, it’s happened away from him, and Molly has told him nothing. 

“You should know. You’re the reason for this, you bloody idiot!” Alice snaps. It stills gives Eddie no answers, and he shoves the broom out to push her away. She stumbles back, startled by the aggression, but she straightens herself out a moment later. She sweeps her white hair over her shoulder, fixing it up to make it look less like she had just flown into a wild rage. “Where have you even been?! It’s been weeks since you were last here!”

“You keep track of me then,” Eddie says. He’s not exactly surprised, but he had thought he was a bit more stealthy than that. Plus, Alice is only here during the day, not at night. Her being here so late at night is unusual, and even more of a sign that something is amiss.

“Of course I do! This is my sister’s wellbeing, her  _ life _ , we’re talking about! Of course I’m going to want to know when you’re coming and going,” she says. “And even if I didn’t, Molly would tell me about you being gone for longer than a few days. Because she worries about you.”

“I know she does. But you still haven’t answered my questions. Is Molly okay?” he asks, growing a bit impatient with Alice.

The woman crosses her arms tight across her chest. “Why don’t you go ask her yourself? She’s up in her room,” she says, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the stairs. She grabs a hold of the broom, and rips it from his grip. Eddie gives her a look, warning her not to strike him again, and while it’s clear she would very much like to beat him round the head again, she doesn’t. She turns on her heel with a huff and disappears into the kitchen.

Eddie doesn’t wait around to see if Alice will change in her mind, and run him out of the house. He heads up the stairs, footsteps silent as ever.

Alice and Molly aren’t the only people in the house. Their ailing mother is there too, which is why Alice is here during the day. Their mother’s health and mind have been declining rapidly, and it takes both of them to make sure she doesn’t wander off and hurt herself or get lost. Eddie is not worried about running into her because he knows that she will forget him in the time it takes for her to blink, but he is still mindful as he passes her closed bedroom door. He would rather not risk an encounter that will slow him down on his way to see Molly.

Molly’s door is closed when he reaches it. He stops in front of it and listens. 

He can hear Alice in the kitchen downstairs. He hears her move to the sitting room, and the soft whoosh as she strikes up a fire in the hearth. He can hear their mother snoring softly in the room down the hall. He can even hear the noise in the street outside, the sounds of people heading home for the night. But he hears nothing from Molly’s room, and that worries him.

He does not knock before opening the door. The room feels warmer than usual, and he expects it to smell like sickness, like fever, but it doesn’t, and that surprises him. He can see that Molly is in her bed, little more than a lump in the blankets. She doesn’t move when the door opens, but he can see the blankets moving up and down with her breathing.

“Molly,” he says, hoping it will get her attention. Indeed, she begins to stir, drawing the blankets away from herself as she rolls over, and slowly sits up. She looks… off. Something is definitely wrong. Colonists are pale by nature, but she looks especially pale, and unwell. But he still does not smell sickness in the air around her, as he would expect to. If it’s not a sickness, then what else could it be?

A small part of him has a suspicion, but he tries not to listen to it; that could be a lot worse than a simple fever.

Molly is still waking up, and she blinks blearily in his direction. He knows when he comes into focus when he sees her eyes light up, and she throws the blankets away. “Eddie!” she says, relief heavy in her voice. She is quick to her feet, but she only makes it a few steps before she begins to sway dangerously.

Eddie catches her before she can take a bad fall, and he helps her stand back up. “Molly… Your sister said something was wrong,” he says.

“I’m fine,” Molly says. Her tone suggests otherwise, but it’s clear she’s trying not to worry him. “I just got up too fast. Been getting over a bit of a cold, but I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? Alice was… very angry with me the moment I stepped into the house. Whatever has happened to you, she seems to be blaming me for it,” he says. He doesn’t believe she had been caught by the Styx. If she had, he doesn’t think she would still be here talking to him. If they didn’t just kill her, then they would have Darklighted her into forgetting him. Whatever is wrong, it has nothing to do with the Styx finding out about them.

Molly bites her bottom lip, and her expression becomes anxious. Her eyes dart away from him, and she can no longer meet his gaze. She steps back from him, her hands clasping together in front of her chest like a prayer. Eddie feels dread gnawing at his stomach. The worry from before is coming back to mind, and it is beginning to feel more and more like the truth, and not just a worry.

“Eddie, I… I’m pregnant…” Molly says, eyes still angled towards the floor.

Eddie closes his eyes, and a long breath leaves him. He had suspected that this might be the case since the moment her sister assaulted him in the foyer. He hadn’t wanted it to be true, he had hoped that maybe it was something else, but what else could it be? If it wasn’t pregnancy, then it would be a terrible sickness.

Neither were great. Both could be deadly, and one ended with a half-Styx child who could out them to the rest of the Colony and the Styx.

The silence has made Molly full of anxiety, and Eddie can hear her wringing her hands. “My sister’s already contacted a doctor about taking care of it,” she says. Eddie blinks in surprise, and he looks down at her. She’s still wringing her hands, still isn’t looking at him. “It’ll be like this never happened, and we can go back to normal. We won’t have to worry about… about…”

“Is that what you want?” Eddie asks, voice firm. Molly’s head snaps up in surprise, and she finally meets his gaze.

“What?”

“Is that what you want to do? Do you want to be rid of this? Or does your sister?” he asks. The way she’s talking, the way she’s wringing her hands makes him think this decision wasn’t one she truly made for herself. He and Alice are not friends, nor do they really know each other, but he is well aware of her negative view of children. No doubt the idea of a half-Styx child being brought into her home has her frothing at the mouth in anger.

“Well… no. It’s not. You know I’ve always wanted to be a mother... But isn’t this what you would want? You’ve never said you ever wanted to be a father, and this child could expose us…” Molly says, but she doesn’t sound all that convinced with what she’s saying to herself, to him.

“What I want is irrelevant,” Eddie says firmly. “If you want to keep this baby, then that is your decision, and your decision alone. Don’t let your foolish sister make up your mind for you.”

“But what if she’s right about it? What if we do get exposed because of this? They’ll kill it. They’ll kill our baby, Eddie…” Molly says. Eddie can see tears brimming in her eyes, and he steps closer to her to gently take her face between his hands. 

“Do you think I would allow something like that to happen, Molly? I have kept you safe for this long, and I will continue to. I will protect our child too, if you decide you want to keep it,” he says. “But don’t let your sister’s anger and disdain make your decisions for you.”

“She’ll be so mad, Eddie. I’m putting her and mother in danger too,” she says softly.

“And she knows that… yet she has not told anyone about us, now has she? If she really wanted rid of this, she would tell the Styx about us, and it would no longer be her problem. But she hasn’t. Because she cares about you. If she is a good sister, then she will respect your decision, whatever that might be,” Eddie says. “I am sure she will be mad, but she will get over her anger in time.”

Molly nods, hands clasped together in front of her again. She worries her bottom lip between her teeth, and her eyes have taken on a distant look to them. Eddie is familiar with the look; it’s one that comes over her when she’s thinking hard about something, and this is something she will need to think about and consider. He doesn’t expect her to give him an answer anytime soon, but he hopes she will at least talk her sister into calling off the doctor visit. 

“I have to think about this,” she says softly. “I know what I want, but… I still need to think about it.”

“I understand,” Eddie says. “Take as long as you need.”

“Not too long… If my sister is right about this, I’m probably over a month along. If I wait too long, then I won’t be able to do anything about it,” Molly says. “Not that I’m even sure I want to…”

Eddie shakes his head. “Don’t ask me what to do, Molly. What you do with this is up to you. If you decide not to go through with it, then I will be there for you,” he says. He guides her back to the bed so that she can sit down and rest. She still looks pale and tired, and she no doubt needs to sleep. “If you decide you want to go through with it, then I will still be there for you. And the baby.”

“Okay. Okay,” Molly breathes. She lowers herself to the mattress, her pallor appearance was beginning to change to something almost green, and she closes her eyes to will it away as she lays herself down. “Will you stay with me, Eddie? Through the night? I’ve missed you…”

“I will stay for as long as I can,” Eddie says, removing his coat and his boots. He sets them aside, and settles into the bed next to Molly. The moment he is settled, she moves to curl up next to him, and he wraps his arms around her in return. She breathes out slowly, the green tinge to her skin beginning to fade.

The silence around them drags on long enough that Eddie thinks Molly must have fallen asleep. By now, Alice will have gone home to her husband, and the house is quiet. He will stay with her for a while longer, he tells himself. He will need to leave before she wakes, but he will stay. It’s the least he can do for her right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how many people still go here, but if you've read this far then yay! This idea hit me very hard the other night and I just had to write it down, and now it's just getting longer and longer lmao. I don't know how long this fic will be or how many chapters there will be, but I have plans for it, so it'll probably be my longest fic.
> 
> You can find me on Twitter @thatstupiddeerr and on Tumblr at gaysjureido! I'm much more active on Twitter, though


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice confronts Eddie about her sister's pregnancy.

Eddie slips out of Molly’s room around just after he hears the clock in the sitting room strike two in the morning. He shrugs his coat on as he makes his way down the stairs, his steps silent as ever. As far as he’s aware, the house is empty beyond the two women who call this place home all hours of the day and night, but he is still quiet. He doesn’t want to disturb anyone’s rest.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Eddie pauses at the bottom of the stairs, and turns towards the voice. If he had been startled by the unexpected voice, he does not show it on his face. Alice sits in one of the armchairs in the sitting room, her features thrown into relief by the warm, flickering light of the fire in the hearth. She has a book in her lap, her thumb between the pages to mark her place. 

“Alice,” he greets dryly. “I thought you would have gone home to your husband. Will he not miss you?”

Alice shrugs. “I told him that Mother isn’t doing too well and that I’ll probably need to stay here for a few nights,” she says. “He’ll miss me, but he’ll live.”

The silence stretches on between them, and neither Colonist nor Limiter blink as they stare at each other across the room. Eddie has no real interest in conversing with Alice, but he has his doubts that the woman will just let him leave without getting an answer from him. They hadn’t spoken about the elephant in the room before, and it still hangs there between them. As much as Eddie would like to keep it between himself and Molly, he knows that won’t be the case. Alice is a large part of Molly’s life, and her pregnancy and the resulting child will potentially affect her just as much.

“Well?” Alice snaps.

“Well, what?” 

“Where are you going? You should be with Molly.”

“I am not able to stay for the entire night. They will be expecting me to be there early.”

“Yeah, well, fuck them. You’ve got a woman who you got pregnant to look after.”

Eddie clenches and unclenches his jaw. Alice has to understand the gravity of the situation that they are in. She has to be poking him with a stick for her own amusement, or out of disdain for him. She cannot be so dull as to think that his fellows and superiors won’t notice his absence come the morning.

“Alice, I cannot stay. If my superiors even get the slightest bit suspicious, Molly will be in grave danger,” Eddie says.

“She’s already in grave danger because if you. Didn’t you hear me? She’s pregnant. I’ve lost many of my friends to pregnancy and childbirth, you know. This could kill her. And if that doesn’t, then the Styx will when they see the half-breed you made with her,” Alice says, her voice icy cold. Eddie meets her cold gave with his own, silently furious that she would say such a thing.

“I will not allow that to happen,” he says.

“You can’t fight nature. You can’t fight God. And if he wants to take her during this pregnancy, or after the baby is born, then you’re shit out of luck,” Alice replies. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve already told Molly that I’m going to handle it for her. I know a doctor who can help her fix this before anyone knows a thing.”

“No. Only she gets to make that decision, and she has not decided what she plans to do.”

“What? Of course she has! We talked about it today before you decided to show up after not being here for weeks. She said she thought it would be for the best to end it now, and that it’s what you would want,” Alice says. Her thumb slips from the book as it falls from her lap to the rug at her feet. “Don’t tell me you’ve convinced her that she should go through with this, you absolute fool!”

“No. I didn’t convince her of anything. I simply told her that this is something she needs to decide for herself,” Eddie says, the corners of his lips pulling down in a faint frown. “She may very well go with your plan at her own accord. But she might decide to go through with the pregnancy. You and I both know how much she has wanted to be a mother.”

“Yes. I’m well aware. And then Mother got sick, and since I was already married, looking after her became her job.”

“Yet, you are here. Away from your husband.”

Alice leans back in the armchair, scowling at Eddie. “It’s none of your business.”

“But Molly’s pregnancy is not either? Since you are so adamant I don’t convince her of anything. Tell me, then… what is my business?”

Alice looks like her head might explode, with how red her face becomes. “I won’t let you get my sister killed! Whether it’s from the pregnancy, or childbirth, or the Styx finding out about the child. This is your fault!”

“I know it is,” Eddie says smoothly. He is tired of Alice’s anger, and the way she seems to order Molly around. And he’s tired of the way she seems to loathe him and look at him like he’s horseshit on the bottom of her shoe. He’s well aware she has good reason for it, but it doesn’t mean he has to put up with the treatment. Or let Molly be bullied by her.

“Then let me do this for her. I can fix this. I can make it go away,” Alice says. Eddie closes his eyes for a moment. When he opens them again, he is looking at the front door. He wants to leave, but he is worried about what he will come back to when he returns next time. He doesn’t want Molly to do something she regrets, whether that be ridding herself of this pregnancy, or ending up with a child that could do more harm than good.

“We will see what Molly decides,” Eddie says, stepping towards the door. “And I suggest, come morning, you go back to your family. Your husband may be able to live with you, but I do not think he would like you to be gone for long.”

Alice scoffs, and looks towards the fire. “She should have been rid of you ages ago,” she says, her voice soft. “This would have never happened if it had just… ended.”

Eddie’s hand hovers over the doorknob at her words. A heavy sigh leaves him, and he closes his eyes. He turns back to face her, black eyes opening to peer at her from across the room. She does not look his way.

“It would have been easier for everyone involved, yes,” he says. He can agree that this relationship should have logically ended long ago. It should have been nothing more than a tryst, and then they would have never seen each other again. But that’s not how it worked out to be, and despite all this, and all the risk, Eddie wouldn’t go back for the world. “But what’s done is done. I may not be able to give her everything she wants, but I do love her.”

“Do you?” Alice asks, head snapping his way. “Or is she just a novelty to you? A pretty Colony woman to play with until you’re tired and you’ve found yourself a Styx woman?”

“I am a Limiter. Marriage and children are not in the cards with me. Not among the Styx,” Eddie says. His hands are clasped behind his back as he speaks, standing at parade rest. 

“Well, they’re not in the cards among the Colony either. You both know you can’t be married,” Alice says. Her voice is wavering, though Eddie doesn’t know if this is genuine emotion, or emotion brought on by exhaustion. He does not question it, however.

“No. I know we can’t be married. But that does not matter to me. If it mattered to Molly so much, I have no doubt she would leave me, and find a man in the Colony more suitable for marriage,” he says. “I have already accepted that that may very well happen.”

“It won’t because she is head-over-heels for you, for whatever reason. And if she goes through with having this child, then she will never find someone to marry,” Alice says. “If she lives long enough to see this relationship of yours through.”

Eddie sighs. This conversation is going nowhere but in circles, and he is growing tired of it. “That will all be up to her. Leave it up to her, Alice. She can make her own decisions.” He turns away from her to face the door. “I will be taking my leave. I can’t say when I will be able to return, but I won’t stay away for too long.”

He opens the door and steps into the quiet, dark streets. He pulls the door shut behind him, being mindful to keep it as quiet as possible. He then sets off to the street, eyes and ears open for any sign of someone following him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Eddie has left for the night, Alice and Molly have a heart-to-heart.

Alice had watched him leave, anger boiling in her chest. It evaporates within moments after he is out of sight, and she covers her face with her hands, shuddering as she tries to keep her sobs in. She is so, so very afraid for her sister. A lot could go wrong, and she is well aware her plan could just as easily get her sister killed, but at least she wouldn’t die at the hands of the Styx, or lynched by her fellow Colonists.

“Why couldn’t it have been me?” she whispers to herself. She shudders through a few more sobs, before she slowly regains her composure. She is exhausted, and she needs to sleep. She had wanted to speak to Eddie before he left, but he had taken his time in leaving, and now it was early in the morning, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to sleep. At least, if she returned home tomorrow tired and upset, she would have an easy excuse for her husband. Their mother was still in ill health, and while she was stable for now, they all know if could change. It would be an easy lie.

She pushes herself up from the chair, and makes her way up the stairs, eyes never quite leaving her feet as she shuffles her way up. At the top of the stairs, she looks up, and her gaze locks with her sister’s. She yelps, and nearly falls down, only saving herself by grabbing onto the banister.

“Molly!” she crows. “What are you doing up? You should be sleeping.”

“I felt sick and I needed some water,” Molly says. “And I noticed that Eddie was gone. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep now…”

“Yeah. He left a few minutes ago. Said he had to be back early, or else they’d notice,” Alice says.

Molly sighs. “Of course. It’s always that,” she says, shaking her head. “I thought tonight of all nights that he would stay, but… I guess that’s too much to hope.” She turns and heads back towards her room.

“Molly, wait,” Alice says, making her sister pause and turn back towards her.

“What is it?” she asks. 

“Do you mind if I stay with you tonight? Might help to just have someone next to you. I know I’m not Eddie, but… if it helps you sleep?”

Molly smiles. “I’d like that. It’ll be like when we were kids.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Alice says, beginning to walk towards her sister’s room. It’s not just helping her sister sleep that she’s thinking about. She’s hoping that this will give them a chance to talk about all of this. Alice has no idea where her sister’s head is at, and she thinks something like this, like when they were children, will bring her walls down. 

They settle into Molly’s bed, and Molly snuggles up to her older sister. They did this all the time as children, though the bed they shared was much, much smaller, and much less comfortable to share. It led to many a late-night argument about who was hogging the blankets, or who was hogging the bedspace, but they always found a middle ground eventually.

“Molly?” Alice asks after a few minutes. She wonders if she’s waited too long, and her sister has already fallen asleep, but she hears Molly hum, and she feels her stir.

“Yeah?”

“Did Eddie talk to you about… all this?” 

“...Yeah, he did. Not much, though. I’m not sure what his thoughts really are,” Molly says. “I don’t know if he wants me to end it, or go through with it… he said I should make my own decision.”

“Well… have you?”

Alice feels the nasty look from her sister, even in the dark. “Is that really any of your business?”

“Yes, because I either need to tell the doctor to show up, or tell him he isn’t needed anymore,” Alice says in reply, deciding she should be more careful about this. “And to figure out what to do.”

“I haven’t decided anything yet. It’s only been a few hours, and I’ve been asleep for most of them.”

“Will you tell me? When you make your decision?”

“Yes. I will.” A pause. “Does this mean you won’t make me go through with seeing the doctor?”

“I would very much like it if you did, but I’m not going to force you to. That’s a good way to make you hate me.”

“Yeah, it is.”

They are silent for a while, the air filled only with the sound of their breathing. Alice can tell that Molly is still awake by the way she’s breathing. It hasn’t slowed yet, and she occasionally draws in a deep breath with a swallow. No doubt she’s feeling ill.

Alice closes her eyes, but not to sleep. Her mind is moving far too fast for her to be able to sleep. She is exhausted, sure, but her thoughts are too loud, too demanding. She has other things she wants to talk about with her sister, all things that Eddie had brought to the surface. None of it had been intentional, of course, but it was there. Regrets, mostly, and wishes that things could have gone differently, for both of them. Alice felt like their lives were backwards, and she felt like it was her fault that Molly ultimately has ended up where she is.

“I’m sorry. About… all of this,” Alice says.

“It’s not your fault. Eddie and I should have been more careful,” Molly says.

“No, not… not that. Just… all of this. I feel like this wouldn’t have happened if I was the one who decided to look after Mother,” Alice replies.

“What? That has nothing to do with you, Alice… you’re married. You have a family to look after. I don’t, so looking after Mother falls to me. Just how it is.”

“Some family. It’s just me and my husband; I could easily split my time between here and my husband. We could even have moved in here and looked after her, and you could have gone off and gotten married.”

“It’s fine, Alice, I don’t mind this life. It’s peaceful and it’s--”

“Not what you want. We both know that. You’re the one who’s always wanted to get married and have children. I didn’t want that. I only did it because it was good for the family, and it would keep you and Mother fed and comfortable after Father died.” Alice brings her hands up over her face. “It should be me doing this. I would be just fine on my own here with Mother.”

Molly sits up to look down at her sister. “Alice, don’t say that… I’m happy where I am too.”

“I know, but you’re not safe!” Alice says, her voice wavering with emotion. “If we were in each other’s roles, we would both be safe! You could love someone and have children, and not be scared the Styx will kill you. You wouldn’t have to sneak around, you could just… be. And I could be here, looking after Mother, and I wouldn’t have to worry about having children like I’m expected to.”

Molly is silent, and Alice feels her lie back down next to her. Alice sniffles as she regains control over her emotions, but she knows she’s said too much, dumped too much of her feelings on her poor, pregnant sister. She swallows, and turns her head to look at her. All she can see is her outline in the faint light through the window.

“Molly? I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to…”

“I need to sleep, Alice. I think you do too,” Molly says softly.

“Okay. Okay. We can talk in the morning,” Alice says hopefully.

“Yeah. Maybe,” Molly says, and it makes Alice’s heart sink. She has said too much. She’s just dumped all of her pain and anger on her sister for no reason other than she was upset with herself. Her sister doesn’t need this right now, she needs support.

And she’s just messed that up wonderfully.

“Alright… I love you, Molly.”

“Love you too.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie returns to Molly after a long time away, and he finds that she has made her decision.

Eddie had tried to keep his promise to come and see Molly as soon as he could, but he had no such luck. A brief tour in the Deeps kept him far, far away from her and the Colony for well over a month, and while he was able to leave a message for her to tell Molly that he would be gone, that was all he was able to do. He could only hope that she didn’t assume he was dead, or he had taken off after learning the news of her pregnancy.

But if she chose to leave him behind, he would live with that decision. It would be the best decision for her, after all, and they both knew it. Even so, he was hopeful that he would have something to return to once the tour of the Deeps was finished. 

It was a messy job in the Deeps, but it always was. The Renegades that called this place home had been getting bold, and the Generals had been growing tired of it. That meant sending in Limiters to round up some of the Renegades and culling them like pests. Most would always escape and survive, but the ones that died would send a clear message to the rest of them, and the Deeps would be quiet once more. The Renegades, of course, were aware of the danger, and they made themselves as scarce as they could, but it didn’t matter. Limiters knew the Deeps just as well as the strays that called it home all year round.

It was a bloody job. A terrible job, but Eddie did as he was ordered to. He felt nothing for the people he helped to round up; this was a job to him and nothing more. There was the faintest twinge of guilt in his chest when it came time to kill those they had captured, but it was gone before he could really consider it. A job was a job, and this was a job he was good at.

He was just glad that Molly would never have to see, or know what he did.

-==-

  
  


Molly is certain she is going to go crazy if she doesn’t leave the house soon. She’s been cooped up ever since the slightest of bumps began to show on her stomach, and while her dresses would hide it perfectly fine, Alice was worried that someone would notice.

“You’re not married,” she had said. “People will talk! They’ll gossip, and something will slip. We don’t want that to happen.”

Molly knows her sister means her well, she only has her best interests at heart, but it’s still frustrating. And the way her sister talks to her, and worries over her feels so, so very patronizing. She’s not a child who needs to be mothered. If anything, she would prefer to be left alone for a little while. The house feels stifling with her sister about, always muttering about something or other.

Her only respite is in the night when Alice has either gone home, or has gone to bed. The silence of the house is calming, and she finds this time to be the most relaxing. She doesn’t have her sister acting like a frantic mother hen around her. It’s just the gentle crackling of the fire that keeps the house warm, the ticking of the clock. Sweet, sweet quiet.

She is sitting in her favourite armchair when she hears the door open. She had thought for sure she had locked it, and the sound makes her freeze. She peers around the edge of her chair, thinking she might be able to catch a glimpse of whoever is entering their home.

But the door is already closed. The light from the fire only just reaches the bottom of the stairs, and she sees nothing, no one. She wonders if maybe she had just been hearing things. Maybe her mother was awake and about to try and wander off, and that worries her just as much.

She begins to rise from her chair, going slow so as not to trigger a dizzy spell, but before she can stand straight, she is pushed down, a hand covering her mouth to keep the startled shout that leaves her from filling the quiet house. 

“Molly,” comes the familiar voice that she has missed so very much. “It’s me.”

“Eddie?!” she yelps behind his hand. Her voice is muffled, but still plenty loud. He shushes her.

“I’m sorry I startled you. I thought you were Alice,” he said. Molly laughs behind his hand.

“We do look pretty similar from behind, don’t we?” she says, her voice no longer muffled, now that Eddie has removed his hand. “Where have you been? It’s been… almost two months now. I was afraid that you had--”

“Taken off on you?” Eddie finishes.

Molly nods. “Yeah. Alice thought so too. I think she felt a bit vindicated.”

“Mm. Of course she would,” he says. “As for where I have been… that I cannot say. Duty called, and I had to answer. It kept me away longer than I thought it would.”

“I’m just glad you’re back,” Molly sighs. She rises to her feet, slow as always, and she wraps her arms tight around him. It takes Eddie a few moments to reciprocate, and while it does sting for Molly, she knows it’s not about her. He has simply gone back to old habits after being away for so long.

“It’s good to be back. I’m sorry I was gone so long, but I do believe that any suspicions will have been put to rest for now,” Eddie says. He draws back so that he can look down at Molly. “But that doesn’t change that we have to be careful. The moment we let our guard down is the moment they catch us.”

“I know, I know,” she says. Molly sighs, and slowly sinks into her chair again. Standing has already become tiring to her, and she knows it will only get worse from here. She runs her fingers through her hair, feeling some of the exhaustion from the day settling in.

“Are you alright?” Eddie asks, his voice full of quiet concern.

“Yeah. It’s just tiring,” Molly replies. “I figured I would only feel like this once I was further along, but it’s already exhausting.

There is a long silence, and Molly realizes that Eddie doesn’t know that she’s made up her mind. He had been gone for so long that she decided that she just needed to make her decision without him there. She knew he had wanted her to make up her mind on her own, but she still wanted to talk it out with him first. But he had been gone for so long, and waiting was no longer an option.

“You have made up your mind then,” Eddie says, his voice even. 

Molly swallows. She doesn’t like the way he said that. She wonders if she’s made the wrong choice. “Eddie--”

He holds up his hand to silence her. She closes her mouth and looks up at him with worried eyes. She just hopes that he’s not mad at her. She hopes she made the right choice for him.

“Is that what you want, then?” he asks.

Molly swallows, and then nods. “Yes. I want to keep it,” she says. “I’ve--I’ve heard about drain babies before, but that’s not what I plan to do. I want to keep the baby for real.”

Eddie closes his eyes, and then nods. “Alright. If that is what you want to do. Have you and Alice done any sort of planning? You are going to have to hide the pregnancy somehow,” he says. His eyes open again to look down at her, and Molly can see concern in them. 

“Not a lot, but she says we can pretend I’m sick. She’ll tell people I’ve fallen ill, and it’s keeping me from being able to leave the house,” Molly says. She wrings her hands together anxiously. Eddie hasn’t said anything about her wanting to keep the baby outside of making sure it’s what she wanted, and that makes her worried. Does he want to keep the baby? Will he stick around for it, once it’s born? Or will he just up and leave her with it? She wants those answers, but she doesn’t know how to ask them without sounding accusatory.

“And the birth?”

“Mother was a midwife for her entire life.”

“Your mother is senile.”

“Yes, I know. But she took Alice with her on a lot of her business. Alice knows the ropes pretty well… I think she would have been a midwife herself if…” Molly trails off, pursing her lips. “Well, that doesn’t matter. She knows what to do, and she can help me. She already plans to spend more time here.”

“Mm.” The tone of his hum makes it very clear that he is not happy with the idea that Alice will be here more often, but Molly knows he will live with it. “Alright. Best to keep the number of people who know about this as small as possible. Does her husband know?”

“No. She doesn’t really tell him anything, I think,” Molly says. “As far as I know, she’s just told him Mother isn’t doing well, and she needs to spend more time here.”

“I don’t believe that lie will hold up forever. Your mother can only be so sick for so long before she--”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Molly says sharply. She doesn’t like to think about losing her mother, even if the woman she knew to be her mother is barely there anymore. “We’ll figure it out, okay? Alice is smart, and I trust her judgement. You should too, since you’re only here every so often.”

Eddie frowns, and Molly knows she’s hit a nerve. She clenches her jaw, irritated with herself that she would say something like that when Eddie is only trying to be understanding. And she’s well aware that he has been doing his best, and his absence wasn’t his fault. 

Unfortunately, her emotions have been running higher lately, and she’s been finding it harder to keep them under control. She’s said many things she didn’t really mean over the last few weeks, especially to her sister.

“Sorry. I--I didn’t mean--”

“I know you didn’t mean anything by it,” Eddie interrupts. “I think you are tired and need your rest, Molly. I can stay with you tonight, if that is what you’d like.”

“Yes. Please.”

Eddie nods, and then holds out a hand for her to take. She does, and he helps her to her feet, a hand coming to rest on her side to help steady her. “How are you feeling? Has the nausea been getting better?”

“A little. I still get it from time to time, but not as much as I did in the beginning. I still get really dizzy though, so I need to be careful when I’m getting up, or I could just… pass out where I’m standing,” she says.

“Mm. Better than feeling ill all the time, I suppose. The dizziness isn’t good, but so long as you’re not out for too long…” Eddie says.

Molly sighs, the sound long and drawn out. “You sound exactly like my sister. Maybe you two will finally get along now.”

“I doubt it. I am sure she will find another reason to dislike me. United front in the case of your safety, yes, but I know she will continue to loathe my existence in your life,” he says with some amusement colouring his voice. 

Molly snorts, but she knows he’s right. Alice will always dislike him, even if they do agree on some things. She won’t be happy until he’s gone for good, and even then, she will no doubt spend the rest of their lives berating her for falling for a Styx Limiter.

“A girl can dream, can’t she?”

“She can, but she shouldn’t get her hopes up either.”

Molly sighs, rolling her eyes at Eddie. She sees the corner of his mouth quirk up slightly in response, but he doesn’t give her a reply. He helps her up the stairs, keeping a close eye on her in case the dizziness decides to return before they reach the top. Molly can already tell he is going to be just as bad as her sister about this. He might not be here all the time, but she will never know peace either way.

“Please tell me you’re not going to act like I’m going to turn to ash, right?” she asks once they reach her bedroom. Eddie closes the door, and shrugs off his coat, draping it over the rocking chair in the corner of the room. He removes his boots as well, setting them aside.

“What do you mean?” he asks as he rolls up the sleeves of the high collared, white shirt he wears beneath his coat.

“I mean, you’re not going to act like I’m going to snap in half, or something the entire time I’m pregnant. My sister has been acting like a mother hen to me since you left, and it’s only getting worse the further along I get. I don’t want you to do the same thing. Especially if it means you won’t touch me,” Molly says, taking a seat on the bed. She’s untying herself from the dress she’s wearing, a simple and loose garment that hides the faint swell of her belly very well. She would never wear this in public, but for spending the day inside with her sister, it’s perfect for staying comfortable.

“I won’t treat you like you’re made of glass, Molly. I know you aren’t so delicate,” Eddie says. He takes a seat next to her as she undresses, his eyes never leaving her face. “But your sister has every reason to worry. Pregnancy is not easy, and you are still in a dangerous period of it.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” Molly says dryly. She removes her skirt next, letting it fall to the floor in a heap. Bent over like this, the slight curve of her belly isn’t as noticeable, but when she sits up, it is definitely there. Now that it’s no longer hidden in the fabric of her dress, she feels Eddie’s eyes drift from her face to her middle.

“You are… showing already,” he says, faint surprise colouring his voice. He reaches out, but then pauses, and seems to change his mind. Molly groans.

“This is exactly what I meant, Eddie! You can still touch me. I’m not going to shatter,” she says. Eddie opens his mouth to say something, but Molly reaches out and seizes his wrist, bringing his hand to her belly. She feels him tense, like he’s going to pull away, but he relaxes his arm after a moment, and she feels pressure against her stomach. “See? I didn’t break. I’m fine.”

Eddie hums softly, and then leans in to press a kiss to her temple. “I know you’re not made of glass, Molly. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted to be touched there. This… no doubt is something you’re still getting used to,” he says.

“It is, but if you act like it’s a big deal, it’ll make it harder on me,” she says. “I… I just want to pretend that we’re a normal couple when we talk about this, okay? I want you to be excited, even if you have to pretend you are. I have no idea if you want to be a father or not, but I really want this. I’d like to at least pretend this isn’t something dangerous or scary.”

“I understand,” Eddie says softly. He wraps his other arm around her, pulling her close so that she can lean on him. “I will do my best to make it feel… normal for you. But you do know that this isn’t going to be normal.”

“Yes, I know. My sister has been drilling it into me the entire time you were gone. I don’t need you to do it too,” she says, her voice taking on an irritated edge.

“Alright. So long as you understand,” he says, pressing another kiss to her temple. “This is all new for me too. I need time to get used to this happening as well, and it will be harder since I’m not always here, but… I will try to give you what you want.”

“Thank you, Eddie… that’s all I ask,” she says softly, tucking her head beneath his chin, eyes closed. Eddie smiles faintly and wraps his arms around her. 

“Is there anything you want to talk about? Anything… normal that people talk about when they are expecting a child?” he asks after a few minutes of silence. 

Molly hums softly. “I can think of a few things, but that’s not what I want to do right now.”

“And what do you want to do?”

Molly grins, and gives Eddie a shove to push him onto the bed. She climbs atop him before he can sit up properly again, and he props himself up on his elbows.

“What do you think?” she asks with a wicked little grin.

Eddie chuckles softly. “I can think of a few things,” he replies softly, before drawing her in for a long, hungry kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear it was January still but then I blinked an entire month had gone by lol.... I meant to update this a lot sooner but I forgot between work and stuff. I have a lot written already, but I like to work a few chapters ahead and I've barely touched this fic lmao. Gonna try and update this more regularly though!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Eddie is away, Molly and Alice have to face the reality of their mother's decline, and Alice takes it harder than her sister.

Another two months passed without much incident. Eddie has to leave again, but that is no surprise for Molly anymore. He promises to be back to see her as soon as he is able to, but the days turn into weeks, and weeks become months. Everytime Molly thinks she’s used to the distance, it drags on a little longer, and she finds it harder to bear. She thinks it must have something to do with the pregnancy. It must be making her more emotional. That happens, right?

If she and Alice have been counting right, she’s five months along now. The little bump has grown to be a very visible swell, and not even the loosest of her dresses will hide it. Before, she had been able to go out every so often, waving off the concern of those she knew by saying she was sick, but she was getting better. Now, she can’t even step out of the front door without her sister snarling at her for it. It’s just too visible now, and people will notice, especially since everyone that knows her and her family knows she’s not yet married.

It would be a scandal, and people would get nosy. They can’t have that, and so, Molly is trapped in the house all hours of the day and night. She is certain she will go mad, and Eddie’s absence doesn’t help matters. At least he would be more of a connection to the world outside, but she hasn’t seen him in almost a month and a half. She can only hope he’s okay, and that he’ll be back soon.

Eddie’s absence and her pregnancy soon become the least of her worries, however.

-==-

It’s early in the evening, and Molly is modifying one of her older dresses to make it more comfortable to wear. All of her dresses are made for someone small and lithe, and she is neither of those anymore. The fabric has some stretch, but not enough to accommodate her growing belly, and there is no way for her sister to purchase maternity dresses without arousing suspicion. People will either think she’s pregnant, and she will have a fit at the very thought, or they will ask in hushed whispers if her dear little sister has “gotten herself into trouble”.

Molly scoffs at the very thought. “Trouble is one way to put it…” she murmurs. “I don’t think you’re that much trouble.” She caresses the swell of her belly, her dress momentarily forgotten.

Footsteps descending the stairs pull her attention from herself, and she looks up to see her sister. She looks… grim; her skin is paler than usual, and her usually bright eyes are dull and angled low. Molly feels her stomach sink at the look on her sister’s face, and she sets her dress aside.

“Alice, what’s wrong?” she asks, rising to her feet. She has to brace herself on the chair to stand, and she notes that Alice hasn’t rushed over to help her like she normally would, telling her she needs to be careful with herself. “You don’t look so good.”

Alice wipes her hands on her apron. Water from helping their mother bathe no doubt, and Molly can only assume it has to do with her. There is little else that would make her sister look so grim. It fills her with dread, and she almost doesn’t want to hear what her sister has to say.

“It’s Mother. She’s… not doing so well,” Alice says.

“We’ve known that for a while,” Molly says, wondering what could be wrong with her now, beyond actively dying. “She’s been on the decline for ages.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. She just…” Alice swallows thickly, and Molly can see the shine of tears in her eyes. Her stomach drops to her feet. She’s gone, isn’t she? She didn’t even get to… 

“Is she…?”

“No… she’s not gone yet,” Alice says, her voice wavering. She crosses the floor to the armchair by the fire, dropping herself into it like her legs can no longer hold her up. She slumps down, legs extended far out in front of her. “I went to help her wash, and she didn’t… she didn’t recognize me, Molly. She didn’t know who I was, and she kept asking for Father. When I told her that he wasn’t here, she started asking about… about…”

“Elijah?” Molly asks. It’s a name she hasn’t spoken in a very long time, and one that she knows still causes such hurt among her small family. 

Alice shudders as she draws in a breath. “Yeah... She kept asking for him, Molly. She sounded so hopeful, like he might just be out of sight… She could remember him, but she couldn’t remember me…”

Molly doesn’t feel the same about this as her sister does, and she feels terrible for it. She knows she should be upset for her sister, she should be upset to hear that name after so many years of not even daring to utter it, but she doesn’t feel very much.

She never really knew Elijah. She had been only a toddler when he had died of some terrible infection from an injury. The doctor had apparently been unable to do anything to help him once it had set in, and their mother had never been the same since. Neither had Alice; Elijah was her twin, and there had been that connection there, a connection that was severed the moment he took his last breath. A part of Alice had died with him all those years ago.

Hearing his name again, and like he was still there, was no doubt like a kick to the chest. The wound was still raw, but it had been healing, and now it had been ripped open again. Their mother forgetting Alice was just one more heartache on top of all that.

Molly can hear her sister openly crying now, and it tugs at her heart. She walks to the chair that Alice is slumped over in, and she gives her foot a gentle tap with her own. Alice hiccups, and she looks up at her. Tears have left wet tracks along her reddened cheeks, and her eyes shine with fresh tears that are still brimming over.

Molly gestures with her head, a slight sideways nod, to get her sister to move over. Alice sniffles and sits up in her chair so that she can scoot over as much as she can. The chair is not meant for two people to share, but Molly can make it work. Were she not so pregnant, she would pull her sister into her lap, so for now, they have to make do with being squashed against one another, not that has ever been an issue between them.

Molly wraps and arm around her sister, pulling her head down to her shoulder so that she can rest it there and cry out her sorrow. And she does; she sobs and wails wordlessly over her beloved twin brother, over their ailing mother. She cries about missing them both, and wishing it had been her that died of that infection instead. She cries that they would be better off if Elijah were here to take care of Molly and their mother, but Molly stops that train of thought in its tracks.

“Alice! Don’t say that!” she says. “It’s a good thing you’re here, and don’t you dare say otherwise! I know you miss our brother a lot, but that’s no reason to say you should have been the one to die instead of him!”

“You know I’m right! He could take so much better care of you and Mother, and you know it!” 

“How could you even know that? Because he’d be a man? Don’t be daft. You don’t know for sure, and you’ve done very well to look after us! We have a comfortable roof over our head, we have plenty of food on the table. There’s not much more we need,” Molly says. “I don’t know what Elijah could have given us that would be more than that. A bigger house? Fancier food? That doesn’t matter to me. It’s never mattered to me. So stop saying you should have been the one who died. Please, Alice. I don’t like that you think so little of yourself…”

Alice hiccups, tears still spilling over every time she blinks. Her sobs have calmed, though, and she’s no longer calling herself horrible, and wishing it had been her who had been taken by the infection. She hiccups in a few little breathes, and leans against her sister again.

“This is just… it’s so hard to hear his name,” Alice whispers, her voice weak and rough from the sobbing. “I miss him so much, and I know Mother has missed him all this time. I thought maybe she would forget about what happened to him, and she could be at peace… and now she has, and it’s even worse than her being unable to even say his name…”

“I know, Alice, I know…” Molly says, giving her sister an affectionate, comforting squeeze. It’s all she can think she can do. She can’t relate to her sister’s pain, not even a little. She had barely known their brother; she had been too young to really process what had happened to him. By the time she was old enough to understand, he was little more than a blurry memory in the back of her mind. In the end, her family’s grief from his passing was the biggest mark he had left on her life.

Alice’s hiccups have died down to little shuddering breaths, her head tucked against Molly’s neck. Her watery eyes close, and a few more tears roll down her cheeks, adding to the damp tracks already there. Molly runs her fingers through her sister’s hair, occasionally pressing her fingers into her scalp to try and calm her and reassure her. It’s all she can really do, all the while hoping that her sister doesn’t start ranting about how much she hates herself. 

“How long do you think we have now?” Molly asks in a whisper to her sister.

Alice inhales hard through her nose, a wet rattling sound that makes Molly wince. Alice sits up, wiping at her eyes, though the tears have already begun to dry on their own.

“I don’t know,” she replies, her voice equally as soft. She sounds hoarse from her crying, and she tries to clear her throat quietly to fix it. “She doesn’t seem any different physically… not yet anyway.”

Both sisters are well aware that that could change within days or even hours. The moment her mind began to fail, their mother’s body followed swiftly. No doubt this extra loss in memory is a sign of things to come, things that neither Molly nor Alice want to think about. This is something that has been years in the making, and while the loss of their mother is something that neither want to truly consider… Molly knows that dying now would be a kindness for their mother. The person that their mother had been was no longer there. She was a shell of her former self.

Losing her now would hurt, but they had lost their mother a long time ago to the affliction that was stealing her mind and memory from her.

“I don’t know either, but I don’t think we have long,” Molly murmurs. “But what will we do when she’s gone? I know she isn’t much in the way of company, but it’s always nice to know that she’s here in the house… And you won’t be able to say that you’re looking after her when your husband asks why you’re here all the time.”

Alice sniffles again, and she wipes her nose on the sleeve of her dress. “I can lie. He doesn’t need to know. But she’s not even gone yet, and you’re talking about her like she is,” she says. “Don’t talk like that…”

“We have to, Alice. We have to be realistic,” Molly says with a sigh. “She’s not going to live forever. I don’t want her to, not when she’s going to be like this.”

Alice makes a sound, a sigh broken in half by a hiccup. “Can we just… not talk about it right now? I don’t want to think about it…”

“I guess. But we need to talk about it eventually… your cover story is going to end, and your husband will know. You can’t just keep lying to him about Mother,” Molly says. Alice sniffs miserably, her eyes on the rug at their feet. Molly sighs again, and gently untangles herself from her sister so that she can stand. “Come on. We should both go to bed. We can deal with this in the morning if we need to, with clear heads.”

“Okay. Okay,” Alice says, and she gets to her feet. They both head up the stairs together, Alice keeping a firm hold around Molly’s shoulders to make sure she stays steady. Even after sobbing herself to exhaustion, she still wants to look out for her sister.

They reach the top of the stairs and Molly heads for her room. Alice trails behind her and passed her, but stops before she reaches her own room. “Molly?”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry. For… saying all of that. It wasn’t fair of me to unload all of that on you like that,” Alice says, idly running a hand through her hair.

“It’s… it’s okay. I know this is hard on you too, and what she said was… really hard to hear,” Molly says. “We can talk about it more tomorrow if you want, but I think we both need to sleep.”

“Yeah. Sleep. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep, but lying down at least would be good…” Alice covers her face with her hands, and then runs her fingers through her hair, sweeping it back and away from her face. “Goodnight, Molly.”

“Goodnight, Alice. I’ll see you in the morning.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie makes Molly talk about her feelings, though she would very much like to not do that.

The room around them is quiet, their ragged breathing filling the space between them. 

Molly straddles Eddie, her hands in his hair as they kiss. Eddie’s hands rest on her hips, the thin fabric of her nightgown the only thing between them and her skin. He has yet to push this any further like he normally might, and he knows that is only making Molly more frustrated with him.

She breaks the kiss and sits back, her breathing a little shallow. Eddie’s hands remain where they are on her hips, but his grip has become loose. Molly is peering down at him, her pupils blown wide over her pale eyes. “Why aren’t you touching me?” she demands.

“Your heart isn’t in it,” Eddie replies. Molly scowls.

“What the hell does that mean? Isn’t it obvious I want to--”

“What I mean is that I can tell that something is on your mind,” Eddie interrupts. “You only want to do this as a distraction, not because you’re in the mood.”

Molly visibly deflates atop him, letting out a long sigh. She slumps to the bed, ungracefully dismounting him. Eddie reaches down to adjust his belt, pulling it back around his hips to tighten it again. He knows there won’t be much more than talking tonight, but he’s alright with that. He doesn’t want Molly to do this if she only wants to distract herself from something else. Intimacy would only be a bandaid on what’s bothering her.

Molly adjusts her nightgown, tugging it down over her legs, before laying still on her back. A noise of discomfort leaves her, and she rolls onto her side to face Eddie, tucking a pillow between her knees. A sigh of relief leaves her, and she closes her eyes. She intends to sleep, no doubt, but Eddie won’t let her avoid whatever is bothering her. It will only build up inside her and upset her more later, if she doesn’t at least try to talk about it.

“Molly,” Eddie says firmly. Molly doesn’t move or respond, but Eddie knows she’s not asleep. Her breathing hasn’t yet slowed the way it always does when she falls asleep. Eddie frowns and grabs a hold of her upper arm to give her a gentle shake. “Molly.”

The woman gasps as she’s shaken, gentle as it may be, and she opens her eyes with a scowl. “What? I was going to sleep,” she says.

“No. You are avoiding my question,” he says.

“You didn’t ask me anything.”

Eddie sighs. She is right, he hasn’t actually asked her anything. He just shut her down, and she’s understandly unhappy with him for it. “What is on your mind that’s bothering you? You have been in a strange mood since I arrived,” he says. “So has your sister. She didn’t even give me a dirty look, as she always likes to do.”

Molly blows out through her lips, and her eyes angle down towards her hands. She fidgets with the blankets, and Eddie waits for her to give him an answer. He will wait all night if he has to.

“It’s Mother. She’s not doing well,” Molly says.

“She has not been doing well since I met you. Has she been declining?” Eddie asks.

“She’s always declining. But she lost more of her memory recently… Alice was trying to help her a few nights ago, and she had no memory of her. She didn’t recognize Alice, and she kept asking for Father and… and our brother,” Molly says.

“Your brother?”

“Elijah. I didn’t really know him, but he was Alice’s twin. My family never really talked about him, but I know my sister was heartbroken when he died… so hearing his name like he was still alive really hurt her,” Molly says. She is still fidgeting with a few loose threads in the blanket. “And it hurt more that she remembered him, but not her. So… we know more of her is gone now. And every time more of her memory fades, her physical health goes down too.”

Eddie is silent as he processes what Molly has told him. Styx did not really have families like humans did, and while he had known his father, he did not have the same connection to him that Molly and Alice clearly have to their mother. He kept the things that his father had given to him, but that was the extent of it. He didn’t under the early grief that Molly and Alice were going through. He doubted he would ever understand it. 

But he would do his best to comfort Molly through this. It was the least he could do for her.

“I am sorry, Molly. This must be very hard for you and your sister,” he says.

Molly’s lower lip trembles, and Eddie is swift to pull her into his arms. She does not cry as he expects her to, but he hears her draw in a deep, shuddering breath.

“We don’t know how much longer she has. It could be days, it could be weeks… we don’t know, and that’s the worst part… we’re just waiting for her to die now, and it feels terrible,” Molly says, her voice soft and wavering. “I feel terrible for saying it, but I wish she would just go… I feel so horrible for her. She’s not herself anymore. She’s suffering and it’s so slow…”

“It’s not terrible to wish that your mother could be at peace, Molly,” Eddie says, his hand running up and down her back. He can’t have her as close to him as he would like; her belly is very much in the way, but he doesn’t mind all that much. “How is Alice coping?”

“Not… not well. She’s been crying on and off… especially since a lot we have to do to look after Mother is stuff I can’t do anymore. On account of… you know…” Her eyes angle down towards her belly. “So a lot of the work has fallen to her, and Mother just doesn’t recognize her anymore. She’s heartbroken.”

“What about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you not heartbroken?”

“I… don’t know. Not in the way my sister is… I’ve barely seen Mother since I found out I was pregnant because Alice was so against me doing any kind of physical labour. Even to help Mother,” she says. “This all feels like some sort of bad dream. It doesn’t really feel real, even though I know it is. I don’t think it will be real until Mother really is gone.”

They lie in silence together as Molly’s words hang in the air. Eddie doesn’t really understand her feelings, but he wants to help her feel better. He’s not sure if anything that he’s said has helped, but he does hope that just talking about it will give her some relief. Unfortunately, it is all he can offer, though he wishes he could do more to help her and her sister.

“If it will help, I will do my best to be here every night over the next few days,” Eddie says, breaking the silence around them. Molly looks up at him in surprise, her pale eyes a little wide with surprise. 

“You will?” she asks, as if she doesn’t really believe him. Not that he has given her reason to believe him, with just how quickly his plans can change. But he nods all the same, bringing a hand up to brush some hair out of her eyes.

“I will. I can’t promise something won’t come up, but so long as everything is quiet for me, I will be here. I believe the least I can do right now is be here for you to help you through this. You and Alice, even if she might not care for my presence,” he says.

Molly makes a sound like a choked sob, and she wraps her arms around Eddie, holding onto him as tight as she can. He folds his arms around her in return, tucking her head beneath his chin. He is glad that this was the right thing to say, and it’s clear that this is what she needs from him.

“Thank you, Eddie,” Molly whispers, her voice muffled against his chest. He hums softly, and it’s something that Molly feels more than she can hear. 

“You’re welcome, Molly,” he says. “Now, I think you should get some rest. You’ve no doubt had a long few days.”

Molly mumbles her agreement, and she is already beginning to drift off in his arms. Eddie can feel the change in her breathing until it has become even and slow. She moves her just enough so that her face isn’t right against his chest, and then settles in to get some sleep as well. Tonight, he intends to stay for the night, and give her the company she needs from him right now.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a night on her own, Molly goes to visit her mother without her sister hovering.

The days tick by into weeks, and weeks become a month. Eddie stays every night for almost a week before he has to stay away again, but even in the time he is gone, nothing changes. Molly and Alice’s mother still remembers nothing of Alice, but her health is stable, much to the sisters’ surprise and relief. 

They’re not going to lose her yet, Molly thinks, but that time is coming faster than she cares to think about. She goes to see her more often now and she helps Alice where she can, though Alice brushes her off most of the time. She can handle it, she always tells her. She shouldn’t be doing too much work, especially now that she’s only a few months out from the birth.

She is three months away from the birth, to be exact. Three months feels like a long time, but she knows it will pass her by before she knows it. Such an event looming on the horizon fills her with anxiety, and even more so knowing that Eddie might not be there for it. The sisters have yet to work out what they will do in either event, but Alice has already promised that she will help Molly through the whole thing. She’s done it before many times with their mother telling her and showing her what to do, but she is no expert. Hiring an actual midwife is out of the question; it will bring too much scrutiny down upon them, even if they pay the midwife extra to keep her mouth shut.

For all they know, the baby could come out looking just like its father, and the game would be up. That would be it, and there would be no going back. And so, that rules out the possibility of a midwife helping Molly through the process. 

As much as Molly trusts her sister, she is still terrified. She’s terrified of dying, or of losing her baby, or even worse, leaving Eddie without either of them. All of the risk and all of the work to keep them safe would be for nothing if they both died.

All these thoughts and more rush through her head nightly. It makes it hard to sleep, even when Eddie is there next to her, though lately, he has been away. Without Eddie beside her, it’s nigh impossible for her to sleep through the night without waking up from some sort of nightmare tied to the birth of her baby. 

Tonight, she is entirely alone in the house. Alice had to go home; her husband missed her, and had begun to nearly beg on his knees for her to come home for at least a few nights. Alice had tried to tell him that both her mother and sister needed her, but the man had ultimately convinced her, leaving Molly alone with their sleeping mother. Molly normally didn’t mind being alone, she had spent much of her adult life with just her mother in the house, but tonight the usually peaceful quiet feels like a deafening silence.

The clock still ticks away, and fire crackles in the fireplace, but even with those noises in the background, the quiet still presses down on her. She’s read the same page of the book in her lap at least five times now, but she hasn’t taken in a single word of it. She sighs, and sets the book aside, giving up on making any progress on reading it for tonight. She glances at one of the old dresses she had been modifying yet again to accommodate her belly, but she feels no want to work on it, even though she knows she should. Most of her dresses are no longer fitting, and she refuses to wear her nightgown all hours of the day.

The rhythmic ticking of the clock is getting the better of Molly, and with a groan of effort, she gets to her feet. She thinks she should just try to get some sleep instead of pretending to be productive.

She makes her way up the stairs, gripping the railing tight to keep herself steady. She feels so incredibly off balance at all times, and she dearly misses her sister’s help now that she is without it. She wonders if maybe she should set up a sleeping spot on the main floor of the house so that she doesn’t have to climb the stairs without help. The last thing she wants to do is fall with no one to help her.

When she reaches the top of the stairs, she begins to make her way to her bedroom, but she pauses when she comes to her mother’s bedroom. The door is closed, as it always is, and nothing seems amiss, but she still feels the need to go inside and see her. It’s been a few days since she’s gone to visit her, and she feels the need to see her. Alice isn’t there to shoo her away, after all.

She opens the door and light from the hallways spills into the room and across her mother’s bed. The old woman is lying quite still, and for a moment, Molly’s heart drops. But after a moment of standing stock still, she sees her mother’s chest rising and falling, and the fear passes. She’s still there, just sleeping as she so often does.

She sets herself down in the chair that sits next to her mother’s bed and watches her in silence. Her mother does not stir, not even for a moment. She looks so peaceful like this, and Molly wishes she could always look so peaceful. When she’s awake, she is always so confused, and there is so little recognition of any of her surroundings on her face. Alice being her main helper doesn’t help matters, as she has no memory of her at all now.

“Mother?” Molly says softly. Her mother does not stir. Her breathing doesn’t change. Molly swallows, and she reaches out to touch her mother’s hand, closing her fingers around it. She doesn’t know if that will be enough to wake her, but a part of her hopes it will. “Mum?”

Her mother’s breathing changes, and she begins to stir. Her pale, glassy eyes flutter open, and they flick around the room as they always do. Molly wonders if she really has any idea where she is, or if this is new to her every time she wakes up. “Mum?”

Her mother’s eyes settle on her, and much to her relief she sees a flicker of recognition in them. A little smile pulls at her mother’s mouth, and she feels her hand being squeezed.

“Molly,” she says. “Good to see you, dear.” Her faint smile fades, and she looks about again. “Where is your father? I thought he would be here. Isn’t it late?”

Molly swallows, feeling sadness rising to the surface. She clears her throat before she speaks; she doesn’t trust her voice not to crack. “Dad isn’t here, Mum. He’s…” She pauses. Should she tell her the reality? It’s not like she will remember this conversation, but it feels cruel to remind her that the love of her life is dead. “He’s still out at work. He’ll be home soon, though. Don’t worry about it, alright? He’ll be home before you know it.”

“Oh, alright,” her mother says. Her glassy eyes look over her, and while Molly still sees recognition in them, she wonders if they’re about to have a repeat of the conversation. It’s been happening more and more lately, though she is rarely the one in the conversation. She has simply listened to her poor sister repeat herself over and over again every time she’s here to look after their ailing mother.

“Mum?”

“Yes, dear?”

“How old am I?”

It’s a strange question to ask, perhaps, but Molly wants to know where in her life she has been transported to by her failing memory. She watches as her mother looks over her, but she doesn’t know how much of her she actually sees. How much does her memory change her perception?

“You’re seventeen,” her mother says with much conviction. “Such a pretty young thing you are too. I know you won’t have any trouble finding a lovely man to marry.”

“Mum… I’m twenty-three,” Molly says with a sigh. She needs her mother to know that before she shows her that she’s pregnant, or else she will be upset. Being pregnant at such a young age, and being unmarried on top of it, would be something of a scandal. Well, it would be if they were in one of the higher families of the Colony. It would just be upsetting for her poor mother.

“Oh. You are? You still look so young, dear,” her mother says. She sighs and seems to settle back against the bed, but Molly pulls her hand towards her. That’s enough to stir her mother again, and the woman looks at her with those glazed eyes. “What is it, Molly? I’m very tired, and I would like to sleep.” A pause. “Where is your father?”

“Mum…” Molly swallows. “I have to show you something.” She brings her mother’s hand to the swell of her belly, pressing it to there. She knows it feels different, but she isn’t sure if her mother will be able to put it together herself. She gives her the chance to, though, holding out hope that her mother will make the connection.

Her mother’s hand is still on her belly, and she feels her gaze moving from her face to her stomach. She wonders if she will have to spell it out for her poor mother, but she feels the pressure against her stomach increase, and the hand begins to move in gentle circles over her belly. 

“Molly… are you pregnant? When did…?” Her mother trails off.

“I’m six months along, Mum,” Molly says, placing a hand over her mother’s. “I don’t think you’ve met the father, but… I love him very much. And he loves me. He’s not here with me now, he’s out working, but he takes very good care of me, Mum. He’s a good man.”

Her mother sighs. “My first grandchild… Have I met your husband? I don’t recall him…”

Molly swallows, realizing her mother had barely taken in what she had said. “He’s… he’s working. He has to be away a lot. I don’t think you’ve met him, no… He’s preferred to let you be, since you are sick.”

“A shame. I would very much like to meet him,” her mother says.

“Sometime, Mum. I’ll introduce you when he comes home next,” she says. She knows her mother will likely forget this conversation ever happened, and she won’t have to worry about her mother asking about Eddie later on. She does with her mother could meet him, but she knows it likely wouldn’t go well, if her mother recognized him for what he is.

She feels something strike her belly, like a hard flutter. It feels as though someone has struck her belly, and she gasps. “Mum! What was that for?”

“Oh, Molly, that was the baby. He’s moving,” her mother says. Her hand moves to another spot on her belly, and she presses down with firm pressure. Molly feels the hard fluttering feeling again, and she now recognizes that it’s coming from within, and not a strike from outside. Her jaw drops, and she brings her hands to her belly, feeling for more. The baby seems to have settled now, much to Molly’s disappointment.

Her mother is smiling widely, the expression brighter than she’s seen in a long time. “He’s a strong baby,” she says. “How far along are you?”

Another part of their conversation forgotten. Molly sighs, and places a hand over her mother’s to still it, and gently draw it away from her belly. “I’m six months along, we think. So… just a few months out from having the baby. I hope you can meet them,” she says. She really does hope her mother will still be here, even if she won’t remember the baby much. It would be nice for her to be able to at least see her first grandchild before she passes.

Molly moves her mother’s hand back to the bed and rests it there. She gives the hand an affectionate squeeze, before drawing away. She thinks it’s time for her mother to get some rest, and she needs to sleep as well. She’s still not sure if she will be able to sleep tonight, especially after this.

It just breaks her heart to see her mother like this. There is so little left of her in that mind of hers. It’s come through tonight, but what about tomorrow? How much will be left then?

“Goodnight, Mum. Sleep well, alright?” Molly says, bracing against the chair as she gets to her feet. 

“You too, dear,” her mother says, and she’s almost immediately back to sleep. She’s so still again, the only movement being the rising and falling of her blankets to tell her she hasn’t simply slipped away. 

Molly steps out of the room, and closes the door behind her. She stands in the dark hallways, breathing in long and slow. Seeing her mother like that after barely interacting with her for months is… heartbreaking. She knows she’s lucky because her mother actually remembered her, unlike with Alice. She’s not sure what she would have done if she hadn’t remembered her… she knows the conversation, what little of one there was, would have ended much sooner.

Molly covers her face with her hands, and she draws in a shuddering breath. She doesn’t want to break down in the hallway, but it’s hard to keep everything in. The ten feet to her bedroom feels like it would be a mile to cover, and so she stands where she is, trying to keep herself together. 

She’s known that something like this would happen eventually. She’s always known that her mother would reach a point where little would be retained in her memory, and conversations would happen in circles. The doctor had warned her of this ages and ages ago, but she never thought she would actually see it. She thought her mother’s physical health would take her before it got this bad, but she was not so lucky.

Tears run hot down her face. She can’t stop them as she sobs in the hallway, her heart broken in two. How could something like this happen to her mother? She had been one of the kindest people Molly had ever known. Why did this have to happen to her? Why was she dealt this horrible hand? Was this punishment for her own sins? A part of her had to wonder if it was. 

She’s not sure how long she stands there for. It could have been a few minutes, it could have been an hour. When the tears finally stop flowing, she feels exhausted. It’s to the point where just standing in the hallway takes monumental effort, and just the thought of trying to walk to her bedroom is nearly enough to bring her to tears again.

She swallows down the tears of frustration and exhaustion, and she begins to walk towards her room, keeping a hand on the wall to make sure she doesn’t stumble. With how off her balance is, it wouldn’t take much to make her fall, and that’s the last thing she wants right now. She has to pause every few steps to shake off the exhaustion, but despite the struggle, she makes it to the door of her room. 

She makes it to her bed with some effort, and she doesn’t even bother to get undressed. She doesn’t care about how uncomfortable it is to sleep in a dress like this; the idea of getting up to get undressed is too much, and she’s already used what little energy she had to get here.

She wedges a pillow between her legs to get herself more comfortable, and for once, she is able to fall asleep without too much trouble. She is just too tired and worn out to remain awake even a moment longer.

And for once, the sleep is peaceful, almost like even her mind was too tired to conjure those terrible dreams.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly and Eddie have a chance to pretend to be a normal couple for a night.

“You! Come here.”

The sharp sound of Alice’s voice nearly sends Eddie up the stairs even faster. That specific tone is the same that she would use with a misbehaving animal, and Eddie only ever hears it before she either gives him an earful, or in the case of the day he found out Molly was pregnant, assaulting him with a blunt instrument. The only reason he doesn’t just bolt up the stairs like a startled cat is because Alice is too far to attack him with something, and she is also not holding anything she could strike him with. At least, nothing visible.

“Yes?” he asks, stepping closer to Alice. The woman peers at him as if he’s said something wrong, as she always does. He’s used to the filthy looks she throws at him by now, but to have one of those looks burning into him now, when it’s clear she has words for him, it makes him rather uncomfortable.

“Molly is in the kitchen, not upstairs,” she says. “We’re planning to set up a space down here for her to sleep in. Not really sure how, but the stairs are becoming an issue, and my husband has been making me go home more often as of late.”

“As you should,” Eddie says, and he knows it was the wrong thing to say. Alice’s face turns a deep shade of red, but she doesn’t explode on him like he expects her to. She blows out a breath like a horse sighing, and looks away.

“That is none of your business,” she says. “Go see Molly before I chase you out of here like the pest you are.”

Eddie didn’t have to be told twice. He did not find very many things in life threatening, but Alice was not someone who was worth testing. He knew he could take her if she came at him with that broom again, but it really was not worth the fight or the argument. Plus, Molly would have his head if he did anything to harm her older sister.

He steps into the kitchen, which is warm from the wood stove burning. He can smell food in a tall pot atop the stove, no doubt some sort of soup. He approaches the pot, and reaches for the lid, but Molly appears almost out of thin air to smack it away with a wooden spoon.

“Don’t touch,” she warns. 

Eddie draws his hand back, and he idly rubs the spot on the back of it where she had struck it. “It smells wonderful, whatever it is,” he says.

“Vegetable soup,” Molly says proudly. “Alice’s husband was able to buy some from those Topsoil vendors that come down here. They had some extra they weren’t going to be able to eat before they went bad, so she brought them here. There’s enough here for me to freeze for meals down the line.”

“How nice of them,” he says, and he means it. Molly needs proper food, especially now. “Perhaps I should try to bring more like this for you… I’m not sure how easy it would be, but my superiors don’t check my pockets after a tour.”

“Oh, you don’t have to,” Molly says, trying to wave the offer off. “I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble over some Topsoil food.”

“I have hidden away worse things than Topsoil food,” Eddie says, reaching for the lid of the pot again. Molly tsks her tongue at him, and shoos him away from it.

“If you’re just going to ruin my food, then you should go out to the sitting room. It’s almost done, anyway,” she says.

“I would rather not sit out with your sister alone,” Eddie says. “She tolerates me at best, and her temper seems to be especially short today.”

“I’m not surprised. She and her husband apparently had a fight last night,” Molly says with a shrug.

“Ah. That would explain it,” Eddie hums. Now the fact that she hadn’t outright attacked him like a rabid dog is even more surprising to him, but he won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. “She says you are moving down here for the time being?”

Molly purses her lips. “Yes… it’s been getting hard to go up and down the stairs, especially at night when no one’s around. Alice hasn’t really been able to stay here overnight for a while, and I don’t know how much longer I can handle the stairs on my own,” she says. 

Eddie frowns. He hadn’t realized all of this was happening so suddenly. He knew that Molly had been alone for a little while, and while that had worried him, he knew Molly would be alright for the time being. But as her due date approaches, this could become a problem. They may still have a few more months to go, but that will go by faster than they all think.

And if Molly were to go into labour while she is entirely alone… it could end horribly for mother and child.

“Will this be a problem?” he asks. “We are only a few months away from--”

“Trust me, I’m well aware of how much time I have,” Molly says, cutting him off. “We’ll figure something out by then. Mother is still stable, so she might end up being the excuse around the time I’m expected to have the baby.”

“I wouldn’t bank on the expectation that Alice’s husband will be flexible if he is getting upset with her staying here so much,” Eddie says warily. “If he changes his mind last minute--”

“Eddie. Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out, okay? Alice and I have been working on what to do a lot… and even if she’s not here, you will be right?” Molly says, once again cutting him off. 

“I cannot promise I will be. We don’t even have a particular date you’re expected to have the baby… just a general time frame. That is very vague, and it could be a span of several weeks,” Eddie says. He would very much like to be there for Molly when she has their baby, but the fact was that he could never say for certain when he would be called in to be sent on another mission. It could be tomorrow, it could be months from now. It worried him dearly, and the last thing he wants is to come back from a tour to hear that Molly had died in childbirth.

“I know, but you’ll try, right?” Molly asks. She’s visibly crestfallen.

“I will try my very best, Molly. You know I always do,” he says. 

Molly sighs. “I know you do, I just--” She freezes mid-sentence, and Eddie steps towards her, worried.

“Molly? Is something wrong?” he asks. Molly looks to him, her eyes wide, and she reaches out to grab his wrist, guiding it to her belly. She presses his palm to the side of the swell of her stomach, and for a moment, he doesn’t know what she’s trying to show him.

He feels a flick against his palm, almost like someone is tapping his hand. His normally stoic face shifts into an expression of surprise, and he presses his hand a little harder against Molly’s belly. He feels that flicking again, a little harder this time. A smile pulls at the corners of his lips, and he looks at Molly, unable to help the little laugh that leaves him. It’s soft, more a chopped exhale than a real laugh, but the brightening smile on Molly’s face tells him she knows he’s thrilled.

“Baby’s getting so active,” Molly says, her voice just above a whisper, as if she’s worried the baby will be disturbed by her speaking. “I felt it move the first time a few days ago when I was… when I was visiting my mother.”

“I am surprised it took so long. I would have thought you would notice the baby moving sooner,” Eddie says. His other hand comes to rest on Molly’s belly, pressing down gently to urge the baby to move. He can feel the fluttering kick on his palm again, and it makes him smile. He leans down to press a kiss to Molly’s forehead, one hand rubbing gentle circles over her stomach.

“It might have been moving and I just didn’t notice… even now, sometimes the movement just feels like gas,” Molly says with a little laugh. 

“Mm… you still call the baby an ‘it’,” Eddie says. “Do you not have an inkling of what the baby might be? Any hope?”

“Should I?” Molly asks with a little frown. “Because… I don’t really. The baby is just that… a baby. Not my… not my son or--or daughter.”

“But what about what you want? Do you want a little boy? A little girl?” Eddie asks.

“A part of me wants a girl… but the other part of me wants a boy. If the baby is a boy, then at least he will have an easier life. He’ll be able to work and support a family better than if the baby is a girl…”

“Don’t think about that, Molly,” Eddie says. There is no point in thinking that way, when the baby will have everything stacked from the time they’re born, boy or girl. Being half-Styx will mean they are in danger from the moment they take their first breath in the world. 

But Eddie won’t say that. It would be cruel to remind her of that right now.

“Then… then I think I want it to be a girl. I don’t know why… I’ve always just liked the thought of having a girl first,” she says. A pause. “Not that I think there will be others after this. I’m not sure I’d like to go through this again.”

Eddie doesn’t find those words all that convincing, but he won’t bother her about it. They both know that this can’t happen again, even if Molly would like to have another after this. A second child would have to be with another Colonist, not him.

“Then we will just have to be more careful,” Eddie says. His hands drop from her belly, and he presses another kiss on her forehead. “I will let you get back to your soup. You don’t want it to burn.”

Molly gasps, and dashes to the stove, suddenly reminded of the food still bubbling away on the stovetop. She lifts the lid to stir, checking it for signs of burning. She sighs softly, and nods, satisfied. The lid is returned to the top, and she steps away from the stove.

“It’s still okay,” she says. “Still a few minutes from being done though.”

Eddie shrugs. “I am not particularly hungry. Besides, I would prefer not to eat food that is meant for yourself. I am fed enough back… home.”

Molly perks a brow slightly, but she doesn’t comment on the way he says “home”. “Okay, if you say so. There’s plenty to go around,” she says, setting her spoon aside and wiping her hands on her apron. “Are you staying tonight?”

“That is the plan,” he says.

“Good,” Molly says with a bright grin. “Do you want to meet upstairs?”

“Mm, no. I would rather not cross your sister’s path alone,” Eddie says. “If she has as short of a fuse as you say, I would prefer to have your help in keeping her at bay."

“Alright,” Molly says, shaking her head with some amusement. “I can’t believe a Styx Limiter is scared of my big sister. That would go right to her head, you know.”

“I know it would, which is why I don’t let her know she puts me on edge,” Eddie says, and Molly giggles, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. The smile reaches her eyes, making them crinkle at the edges, and it makes Eddie feel oddly warm.

They talk well into the night, even after the soup is done and put away to freeze. It is rare they get nights like this, where they spend it together like a normal couple, but they make the most of it. Like this, they can both pretend they aren’t breaking one of the Styx’s highest laws. They can pretend the child they are about to have together isn’t something potentially dangerous for all of them.

Like this, they can just be.


End file.
